<p>Microsoft's Office 365 cloud partner program -- including the new Cloud Deployment program -- continues to show signs of progress. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and perhaps even Lync Online are gaining critical mass with corporate customers. But just how many VARs and MSPs are getting cozy with Microsoft cloud suite, and what ever happened to Office 365 Open -- which will eventually allow partners to manage end-customer billing?</p><p>Let's start with the latest news. Microsoft's new Cloud Deployment program is "designed to empower partners to build a capable cloud deployment practice enabled through training and deployment tools in order to help enterprise customers deploy Office 365." In my mind, that's a long way of saying Cloud Deployment helps partners profit from onboarding Office 365 customers.</p><p>Microsoft says more than 61,000 partners are active Cloud Essentials partners and more than 5,500 partners actively sell Microsoft cloud services every month, more than doubling the monthly reach of partners that sold in the last 12 months. Those are good metrics -- especially as new rivals like IBM SmartCloud Docs (part of a larger IBM SaaS suite) come into the market.</p><p>To keep its own momentum going, Microsoft at the end of 2012 will start offering partners a dedicated team to help "quickly resolve any technical issues"that potentially arise during an Office 365 deployment, according to a blog post from Josh Waldo, senior director of New Markets and Emerging Channels at Microsoft.</p><p><a href="http://talkincloud.com/cloud-channel-partner-programs/microsoft-office-365-cloud-partner-program-updates-and-questions">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.channelpartnersonline.com/news/2012/12/microsoft-offers-cloud-deployment-partner-program.aspx">Microsoft Adds Cloud Deployment Partner Program for Office 365</a> (Channel Partners)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dJPNcfC2EiLLdOMKjPmo6Ex_g6TLM&ned=us">30 additional articles.</a></p>